First Gen Lift Kits

Anyone have any good recommendations for an affordable 3" lift kit for a 2000 4x4 tacoma? I can't seem to find any online for less than a grand.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ome-3-lift-review.311219/

 

Would be helpful to know your intended use (off road, daily driver pavement princess, etc...), your budget, and how handy with a wrench you are.

The prices range from a couple hundred bucks to many $1000's. "Affordable" to a college kid is going to be a lot different than "affordable" to someone with a money tree in their back yard.

Some are simple bolt-on, others require a lot of fabrication.

 

Primarily Daily driver with occasional off-roading, but nothing too hardcore. My budget is right around $400- $500 and I plan to do the install at home.

 

Sounds like you'll be doing 5100's. You won't quite get to 3", (2.5" for the 5100s is max) but that's really all you need if you're just looking to fit some bigger tires.

You can set the front 5100s to the highest setting (they are adjustable) using your stock springs, but this does tend to make the ride a bit stiffer (because you are increasing the preload on the spring). A set of OME springs that are designed to give you the lift will be better, but for a tight budget just re-using stock coils is a good 1st step. You can always get the OME coils later, all that stuff is compatible.

For the rear, matching 5100s, and an add-a-leaf.

A set of 4 5100s should run $300-350 depending on if you find them on sale, and a rear add-a-leaf is like $80.

There are other options of course, but this might wet your appetite: Going over 2.5" of lift, and there are other issues you tend to run into, like needing new upper control arms in order to get it aligned. Extended rear brake line is a good idea, too, but may not be *necessary* for just driving on the street.

 

Don't forget to add the $120 'shipping and handling' charge to those wheelers prices.

 

I have a Tuff country drop bracket lift that was installed on my truck when I bought it. I do not recommend it, it rides nice(little stuff) but it gives no ground clearance for off-roaring.

 

Don't mean to burst you bubble, but even doing the install yourself $400-$500 is about half of what it will cost you so a basic 2.5" lift if you piece everything together. Shocks, coils, leafs, hardware, miscellaneous... you're looking at an easy $1K when you factor in shipping costs and tax (possibly).

 

Meh, like I said above, you don't NEED new coils and leafs. Of course "ideally" we'd all get all new parts all the time, but that's not practical for everyone.

The items I listed total $417, plus tax and $50 shipping

The other cost that's not often discussed is getting an alignment when finished. I think I got charged $60 for my last one. For like $120 you can get one of those lifetime alignment deals.

I just calc'd shipping to my house with the items I listed; $125 for 2nd day air. UPS ground is significantly cheaper.

 

Living on the east coast means ordering large items from Wheelers is out of the question. Lowrange and Headstrong may have slightly higher prices on stuff, but the free shipping helps a ton.

I paid $30 shipping on 2 add a leafs from wheelers, and thats going snail mail.

 

I think we're splitting hairs on the shipping here. The wheelers links I posted were just examples to show what's possible. I've actually never ordered anything form them, lol. Wheeler's is just easy to search for and display parts.

When I got my 5100s, and later my Kings (+ other goodies), I actually ordered from Downsouthmotorsports and lowrangeoffroad.

 

I pieced my kit together from Amazon, wheelers, lowrange and some other places. Ended up being more expensive then if I just ordered a kit from Headstrong. For my dads truck that were lifting soon, he's just gonna order the full shabang from Headstrong and save some money.

 

Definitely have to shop around for the best pricing. I usually try to get everything from one place that way you're not paying multiple shipping charges.

 

Wheelers lost me as a potential customer when they wanted to charge $30 to ship 2 shocks. I work in the industry, and routinely ship heavy automotive parts around the country. Their shipping price was insulting.

 

I have the Eibach kit on mine. https://wheelwell.com/shop/eibach-s...r=2003&make=Toyota&model=Tacoma&submodel=Base They have crazy coupon deals on that site from time to time and I recently bought my kit using their $200 off of $400 deal. I believe it still works, and I only paid $395 to my door. I bought an add-a-leaf off of Amazon for about $80.

 

Thanks man. Just to make sure, this is a 2.5 inch lift?

 

Not everyone has Amazon level deals with shipping. But at least with Wheeler's and other specialists you are assured you get the right parts as opposed to Amazon where they don't differentiate between a 5 lug and a 6 lug.

Go to a UPS store and it'll probably cost $80 to ship a couple shocks across the country.

But if you work "in the industry", why are you going to a retailer for parts?

 

Because the parts dealers I deal with are thin on the ground with aftermarket stuff. I can get 4600's all day long because stock. I can get rear leaf packs stock height all day long. Aftermarket stuff is a little more specialized, and I apparently need to clarify on thier shipping charges: $30 for 2 shocks. $60 for 4 shocks. $90 for 4 shocks and 2 springs. $120 for 4 shocks, 2 springs and 2 AAls. I just shipped 4 shocks, 4 springs, 2 upper strut mounts, and all the bushings toacross the country for 35 bucks. tell me again about that $80 charge?

 

Yes, 2.5" Lift.

 

I'm so proud of you.